Tonight's game

It’s the start of in-stadium All-Star balloting tonight so if you’re coming out, punch out your favorite Dodgers (not literally). Or you can vote online up to 25 times.

Also, in case you didn’t see it in the comments section of the last post, the three-second radio delay on KFWB is gone, thanks to new leadership at CBS Radio. I know many of you have posted comments about that and I’m glad that we could all work together to get it fixed.

Well it looks like management is finally going to make a decision on Betemit. I expect that if he can’t get his bat going in the #7 spot we’ll
probably see a new starter at 3B sooner than later. It might not be a bad idea to see a flip at the top of the order with Furcal & Pierre. Raffy might be able to get it going by seeing a few more fastballs with Pierre on first.

All things considered, not a bad start to the season even with the left side of the infield hitting under .180. I do think that even with the pitching being as strong as it

has been so far, the Dodgers are going to need to add some power to the middle of the lineup on or before the trade deadline

I’ve got to agree, I keep looking at our line up thinking that we have yet to put our best foot forward considering injuries and such, and here we are taking it to the rest of the league. “Cautiously optomistic” is a great way to put it, I really like the way this team is shaping up. I’m curious to see when Loney finally gets called up, maybe we should start a pool and see who comes closest. I’m going with my birthday, May 23rd, any guesses?

Go Blue, let’s avoid the first sweep of the season and stick it to the Giants.

HOORAY!!!!! Thanks to everyone involved for getting rid of the delay on KFWB. It will definitely be good to listen to Vin again while I’m at the Stadium.

I think we’ve got the Giants’ number today, and worst case scenario, we’d be even, but that’s not happening. To quote the great Danny Kaye: “C’MON YOU FLATBUSH REFUGEES!”

Speaking of Flatbush, I guess the episode of The Munsters was on earlier with Leo Durocher when he has Herman Munster try out for the Dodgers. I missed it ’cause I was in class, but maybe it’ll come on again soon.

Good call, since The Big D would hit two Giants for every one of ours Bochy would be scraping the bench for replacements by now. Did Ethier really try to steal home or was the double steal on? Carl Crawford he ain’t!!!

eheuerman… as Vinny put it best tonight, and I paraphrase here: “…not the type of bunt attempt from a guy who makes a career of bunting.” How on Earth does one miss a squeeze play? By not knowing the signs… that’s how. I for one, do not like the signs I see from one Juan Pierre. And the ball he should have caught in the 8th inning was severely misplayed… what angle was he running to the ball on in the first place? It’s almost like he plays the ball so he has to catch it at the last possible moment. Yes, he made some good catches, but on balls like this where the game is riding on the outcome of a catch… it seems like perhaps he is just trying WAY too hard instead of letting his talent flow. He’s pressing, and it’s not like it’s just going to go away anytime soon. This guy was severely overrated… oh and yes… FIVE YEARS!!

And with Betemit… it looks like he’s swinging under the baseball. There’s something different about his swing this year than last. It’s something when his bat is going through the strike zone that makes it look like the bat is dropping from its intended target. He needs to get it going quickly.

1) On Tuesday morning, I woke up to an email telling me I had been rejected from an internship I interviewed for (one I thought I had a pretty good shot at), and realized my options were decreasing to the point where I don’t have a clue what I’m doing this summer. Now the Dodgers get swept by the Giants. I’ve had better weeks.

2) There’s a bit of improbability that the Giants are this hot right now, but in the very short term a lot is possible. The law of averages being in effect, though, I’d expect San Francisco to sink down eventually. After all, everyone in the division saw first place last year.

3) As for Wilson Betemit, he’s clearly in some kind of nasty slump, and I appreciated that double tonight. However, if he doesn’t really step it up, the Dodgers need to put someone who’s not Martinez or Valdez at the hot corner. Plan B seems to be to slide Nomar over and put Loney at first, and then for LaRoche to come up when Nomar hurts himself (we’re on Plan A now). I’m willing to give Betemit until June 1, but if LaRoche is tearing up AAA and Betemit is struggling to tear up a piece of tissue paper, then it’s time for a switcheroo.

4) Martin is good, and it’s his consistency that does it. Still, as long as you don’t bat him cleanup, give Lieberthal a little bit more playing time. I mean, he’s only started 2 games; the reason you have a backup catcher isn’t in case your primary catcher gets injured, it’s so that you can play him enough to keep your primary catcher fresh.

5) Finally, I think we should keep our old friend Willy Aybar in our thoughts and prayers. Substance abuse can do a whole lot of damage, not just for yourself but for your family. It gets especially scary when it’s hard to contact him, as it was for his brother Erick and his mom. There are worse things than dropping three in a row to the Halloween team.

You’d think getting swept by a halloween streak at Chavez ravine is the worst possible thing but it could be worse…. We could all be Yankee fans with the Hottest Power Hitter in the game and score 120 runs in 20 games and yet still be in last place with the D-Rays….

Tomorrow is a new day and Hendy is up with great numbers against a pitcher we should be able to knock the snot outta by the 3rd inn.

High Notes…

we are still in first place albeit tied we are still on top.

Either is starting to hit the ball as is furcal.

Low points…. well we all know those and I really don’t want to rehash them all but atleast we are past Bochy for awhile and can get it going again.

Here’s to 5 years of Juan Pierre in a Dodgers uniform!
He can do it all folks. Lose the game with his bat, wheels, glove, and arm… What a bargain! Is anyone else starting to get a little whiff in the air of Delino Deshields? I can’t believe they gave this first class bum over 40 million…..thats what you call “theft by false pretenses.” See what happens when you panic Ned?

We all know why we lost last night. There are 3 players that are directly responsible for the way the team is playing. If these 3 players are left in ,and do not perform , it’s going to be a long season. I for one miss Lofton.

In the first game of this series the team pretty much beat itself, with sloppy fielding. In the second and third games, the fielding was much better. Kent’s age and Gonzo’s arm are things that cannot be improved on. The team improved where it could. Pierre made a splendid catch on a sinking line drive.

The hitting improved too, and the batters worked deeper into the count. Unfortunately, the lack of power in the lineup contributed to runners left on base, and the automatic outs from Betemit-pitcher-Furcal-Pierre meant only six innings to really score runs in.

Still, the Dodgers played well these last two games. It was fun to watch them. They just didn’t win. Even playing well overall wasn’t enough to win. And that’s a little bit disheartening.

I would definitively say that NO we will do nothing in the post season with Pierre and Gonzo in the outfield and Betemit at third base. We might get there but we will not win anything. This team is not a championship team. I don’t think its a stretch to say that. Especially with Tomko AND Hendy in the rotation…and who knows how long that is going to last. If some roster moves are made, then it might be different.

Well, looks like we’re even with the Giants… didn’t see this comming a week ago. Oh well, it’s still only April.

Time to put a whoopin’ on San Diego. They’re just like everyone else, let’s go get ’em and pound the ol’ Budweiser… well, except for those who can’t or won’t drink, in which case, the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice would be greatly appreciated.

The Dodgers have been having a rough week. Losing all three games to the Giants only reinforces the problems they have been having.
If the Dodgers expect to be in the World Series, they better step it up a notch.

I can forgive physical errors. But mental errors like the miscommunication between third base coach Rich Donnelly and the batter, Juan Pierre on the failed squeeze play are hard to let go.

Signs and signals are the nerve center of baseball. Without them, the manager can not control a game. When he wants to put on a play, he will signal his third base coach who in turn will let the batter and runners what to do. Some plays require a player to give an acknowledgment signal in return.

That being said, how could the Dodgers, so soon out of spring training, mess up such a vital play? So Pierre missed the squeeze play sign. Not good. But more important, doesn’t the manager and coach require him to acknowledge the play?

If he missed the sign and did not acknowledge, it is up to the third base coach to give the sign again. Maybe Grady Little needs to run a few more communication classes with the coaches and players until they are all on the same page.

“…Pierre admitted that he missed the sign. His half-bunt, half-swing at the pitch appeared to be a panic move when he saw Ethier barreling down the line. But here’s the rub: because the suicide is such a high-risk, low-percentage play — Grady says there is one thing that can go right and 10 things that can go wrong — teams generally employ a sign system that involves not only the sign being given to the runner and the batter, but the sign being acknowledged by all parties so everyone knows they have the signs. 3B coach Rich Donnelly was understandably vague after the game, because obviously you can’t tell reporters how your sign system works. But Donnelly DID say the acknowledgement mechanism is something that happens BEFORE the sign is given. (I’m guessing that would make a lot more sense if we knew what the signs were, but we never will, so just go along with it). Grady implied that Pierre had acknowledged the sign. But Pierre said he wasn’t aware of any such acknowledgement mechanism.”

It was bad that Pierre missed the sign but that happens sometimes. What gets me is that the Dodgers apparently have a system where the batter is supposed to acknowledge a sign before it is given. If there is no acknowledgment, the sign must be given again coach!

But the coup de grâce for this play was Pierre’s admission that he did not even know about any such acknowledgment mechanism.

Winning baseball is as much a head game as it is a physical one. Apparently we know where some of the Dodgers’ (both management and players) heads are at.

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